NTL says no to Yes after trials

Britain's Yes Television Plc has failed to secure a key deal to supply video-on-demand services to cable operator NTL - just two weeks before its stock market flotation.

NTL, Britain's largest cable operator, plans to roll out a digital service later this year. It said it had terminated its agreement with Yes TV after carrying out commercial trials of the video on demand service over its network in Cardiff.

NTL is expected to run instead with rival Diva, which has been supplying hardware and software in recent VOD trials with NTL, but industry sources said the door may still be open to Yes TV later on as the cable operator may seek a second supplier.

The trials with NTL had been listed in Yes Television's flotation prospectus as one of its key operations, which also include VOD trials with Kingston Communications in Hull and another pilot with Irish telecoms company Eircom.

Yes Television has so far only run trials since its launch five years ago but plans a national launch this year after British Telecommunications switches on technology for high-speed transmission over conventional copper phone lines.

Yes TV and BT will launch a pilot of the service in London later this month offering VOD, Internet access and email.

As part of its flotation, Yes TV is selling a 25 percent stake in an initial public offering that will value the company at between 500-670 million pounds. The global offer kicked off on April 3 and share trading is due to start on April 26.